Guest columns

November 10, 2014

Why India needs to get tough with China'It is certainly time for New Delhi to open up. Not only should it go ahead at full steam with the roads to the LAC, but the government must also allow tourists to visit these stunningly beautiful areas of Indian territory.'

November 15, 2013

Why India must remember Sardar PatelLeaders of today can pay homage to Sardar Patel by being realists, calling a spade a spade, having sound advisors, playing to our strengths etc, says Sanjeev Nayyar.

October 18, 2013

Four elements that will shape India-China ties'Border disputes cannot be solved by resorting to border conflicts. Only by mutual consensus, and a spirit of give-and-take, can we arrive at a long-lasting solution,' says Professor Wang Dehua, ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to China next week.' Exclusive to Rediff.com.

How India is learning from ChinaWhen it came to national security issues, China never hesitated to take a quick decision regardless of the material costs. Nor were the superiority in military strength of the adversary a consideration, Srikanth Kondapalli points out.

How Iranians changed the PLOT of the Prez poll
The Iranian people, having spoken, are asking the new administration to find a way by which sanctions can be rolled back and civility and normalcy can return to Iran's engagement with the world, says K C Singh

June 14, 2013

India's message to Nepal, Maldives: Allow democracy to take root
India aims to gently encourage moderate and democratic forces in Nepal and Maldives towards building a less fractured polity, writes Shubha Singh
Indian defence diplomacy and strategic re-balancing
Indian defence diplomacy will have to play an increasingly important role as it tries to emerge as a credible strategic partner of the regional states. Neither India nor other regional states have incentive to define their relationship in opposition to China. Great power politics in the region have only just begun, says Harsh V Pant
Dr Singh's mantra for conflict resolution: military and money
Political conflicts with deep social roots are not resolved through ill-conceived surreptitious deals. They require a bold political vision to resolve them. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech at the recent annual conference on internal security showed a vision that is cynical, sterile and bureaucratic, writes RN Ravi, former special diretor of the Intelligence Bureau

The L K Advani I have known for 30 years
BJP patriarch L K Advani wanted to transform the BJP from a narrow, exclusivist and radical party into a more inclusive, reformist one, says Mohan Guruswamy
How will the Congress counter Modi's game plan?
The Congress's real test would be to stop Modi and the BJP from achieving this short term objective of winning the forthcoming assembly elections so that they remain relevant when the parliament elections take place in 2014. They may be helped by the growing trend amongst regional parties to stay out of any alliance with any national party, says Sanjay Kapoor.

What the by-poll results foretell
Other than providing Narendra Modi a sweetner ahead of the BJP's national executive meet in Goa, there are no major trends to glean from the recent by-election results, says Seema Mustafa.

June 04, 2013

New Delhi's strategic dissonance in post-2014 Afghanistan
India's post 2014 Afghanistan policy appears to be glued to the best-case scenarios of a successful democratic transition. New Delhi hopes that it would remain 'business as usual' and would not necessitate a drastic revisiting of its continuing strategy. This, in short, is a strategy of convenience, says Shanthie Mariet D'Souza.
Should a discredited CBI investigate the IB?
The grilling of IB officials by the CBI in connection with the Ishrat Jahan encounter case smacks of vendetta against the Gujarat government. The myopic political regime in Delhi has not realised the significance of destroying institutions. Only Pakistan and LeT would have the last laugh, says Arun Jaitley.

Strengthening NDA, not Modi, should be BJP's priorityEven with Narendra Modi as its PM candidate, the BJP is expected to get between 170 and 190 seats in 2014. That means some 100-odd seats will have to come from allies. That also means the present NDA allies are not enough, it has to be NDA+, says Sajid Bhombal

Scaling the great wall of symbolismChinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to India showed the impact of patient and persuasive diplomacy on both sides - but it's the outcome that will matter, says Nitin Pai

May 22, 2013

'We regret opposition's obstructionist approach'We present verbatim the full speech given by Congress president Sonia Gandhi at the release of UPA II's report card in New Delhi on Wednesday.Questions India needs to ask on world biodiversity dayIndia is the chair of Convention on Biological Diversity till 2014. India has the chance to lead the world with setting high standards on biodiversity protection within India and with operations outside. We should also shift our energy paradigm slowly away from dirty destructive practice of coal mining into cleaner sources of energy, says Nandikesh Sivalingam.Seize the new opportunities in India-China cooperationWe present the translation of the full speech given by Chiese Prime Minister Li Keqiang at the Indian Council of World Affairs in New Delhi on Tuesday.

May 21, 2013

Li Keqiang's India visit: Rhetoric over resultsThe Chinese premier's visit may be considered rather moderately successful, which has covered a profusion of convergent ideas while leaving many more areas of divergence untouched, says Sana Hashmi.

Impulsive, enigmatic and unpredictable, what will Sharif do next?Hurried and ill-planned Summits like the Vajpayee-Musharraf Summit in Agra which preceded the attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001 are best avoided for now, says G ParthasarathyWill Nawaz Sharif walk the talk on India?If Pakistan's new government lives up to the commitments given by Nawaz Sharif that he will not allow Pakistan's soil to be used against India and will put the jihadist networks out of business, it will create a lot of space for the next government in India to move forward on the bilateral track, says Sushant SareenView: The dead deserve a better sendoff, surelyDespite all views about afterlife and such, it matters little to the dead how he or she is disposed of, says Mahesh Vijapurkar

May 14, 2013

India-Iran relations: A tangled webA close examination of the Indian-Iranian relationship reveals an underdeveloped relationship despite all the spin attached to it. India would like to increase its presence in the Iranian energy sector because of its rapidly rising energy needs, and is rightfully feeling restless about its own marginalisation in Iran, says Harsh V Pant.
Why objections to the Vande Mataram are not validIn a pluralistic society like India it is imperative that religious fervour be tempered to suit the common good, say Vivek Gumaste.

What the Chinese gameplan against India isThe military gap between India and China is growing steadily. Clearly, China's negotiating strategy is to resolve the dispute when the Chinese are in a much stronger position in terms of comprehensive national strength so that they can dictate terms, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).

View: Why the Italians take India for grantedOne can say the Italians are rogue, they belong to an irresponsible republic, but what about the great democracy and the Republic of India that shows shameful pusillanimity or connivance with favoured foreigners as a pattern and not as an exception, asks Tarun Vijay

March 13, 2013

India, Italy can still reconcile, and should'Indian diplomacy should be allowed a free hand and politicians should step aside. It is difficult to see that happening, but it can happen -- and it should in the spirit of a mature democracy,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

March 06, 2013

Wharton and Modi: Political gamesmanship won over business savvy'I agonise for these students that only desired to create a platform to discuss India's challenges and opportunities for growth. They shot themselves in the foot and the students and Wharton administration must learn the lessons of consequences even as they seek redemption that can be theirs with the right moves forward, argues Dr Aseem Shukla.

For cities, small is not beautifulTo make anything manageable, both the intent and the will to manage is important, not empty words. This is missing from all those involved in operating a city where budgets as they exist ought to provide good results only if politics and politicians' objective of pelf do not lead to poor execution and large-scale drain of resources. That is why even small is not beautiful, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.

February 18, 2013

Remembering the Mighty Shivaji, truly a world leaderShivaji revolutionised the art of warfare in India. His approach to the use of violence was radically different from that followed in the preceding 1,000 years. He was one of the great personalities of world history, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).

February 12, 2013

China's Gwadar plunge, and India's confused reactionChina's new naval strategy of 'far sea defence' is aimed at giving Beijing the ability to project its power in key oceanic areas, including and most significantly the Indian Ocean. China has fired the first salvo. Others will have to react seriously if they want to retain their role in the region.

February 11, 2013

Afzal Guru's execution: Propaganda, politics, portentsIt would be a real shame if after having demonstrated strong resolve in acting against terrorists like Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru, the government was to fritter away the gains on the altar of politics of appeasing fringe groups, says Sushant Sareen.
View from Kashmir: The lengthening shadow of Afzal Guru's gallowsThe impression in the valley that Kashmir is not only 'expendable' for buttressing New Delhi's partisan interests, but also a preferred choice to do so, is getting strengthened, feels veteran Kashmir commentator Mohammad Sayeed Malik.

February 09, 2013

Afzal Guru's hanging: Move on, and make India terror-freeUnless we learn to forget our differences and stand together as Indians first, earnestly believing that the cause of the Motherland is bigger than the interests of our groups and parties, the terrorist network cannot be rooted out, says Tarun Vijay.
Hanging could have damaging repercussions'The only logical explanation for the sudden hanging of Afzal Guru,' feels Seema Mustafa, 'is the fact that general elections are around the corner. And the Congress in its usual cynical manipulation of votes is trying to eat into the majority constituency with this action.'
How Afzal Guru spent the last few years of his lifeThe gallows was merely 30 meters away from the 16 by 12 feet cell in Tihar Jail in which Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was lodged. Afzal was, at all times, surrounded by security guards as he was a high-profile prisoner.

How Shinde spoilt Rahul's good beginningIf the home minister knows anything unlawful about the RSS or the BJP, who has stopped him from taking the sternest action? But to blame nationalist forces without any proof is a sin against the very idea of India, says BJP MP Tarun Vijay.

A woman alone in the forestFive stories of rape and sexual assault from the epics are particularly useful in offering an insight into the way rape works in India, says Nilanjana S Roy.

January 02, 2013

What drives the Indian male to rape?The Indian man needs to learn that he isn't in control, that he is no one to control and that it is not he who is more than a woman. There isn't a competition between the sexes, says Chirag Shah.
How to shame the shameless sexual predatorsIt'll be another sad day if the outrage over the Delhi gangrape withers away without achieving anything, says Raghothama C.